The picturesque region between Monk Fryston and Escrick is under immediate threat due to plans by Light Valley Solar to establish an industrial-scale solar farm. This proposal includes a vast cable corridor, hundreds of acres of solar panels, 13 metre high substations, and Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) sites, sprawling across a 13-15 mile area. This  development, if allowed, will irreparably alter the landscape and affect the quality of life for local residents. It will also give the green light for further industrial scale sites to move in. 

This area of North Yorkshire, with its rich history and close-knit communities, will face a variety of issues, including:

• 3 years of increased traffic and disruption (65 trips by HGV's and 589 trips by cars or Light Good Vehicles each day)
• noise and pollution from the construction and maintenance 
• noise, buzzing and vibrations from the infrastructure
• views that are completely changed from green countryside to industrial sites of solar panels and other infrastructure
• restricted access to the remaining countryside that is left
• irreparable harm to local wildlife, including many protected species
• decreased property values (this won't just impact the financial value of your home, it will potentially make it unsellable and cause loss of amenity and enjoyment for you in your own home)

The construction and operation of such a large-scale industrial project will turn our rural and agricultural villages and countryside into a vast industrial estate.

Solar energy has numerous benefits, and whilst we acknowledge the need to move to greener methods of harnessing energy, it shouldn't be at the expense of our countryside.  Light Valley Solar could explore other alternative solutions, including putting solar panels on rooftops and in brownfield areas, but this would cost them more money and so they hope to blanket our fields with glass, metal and plastic instead.

Light Valley Solar is owned by Macquarie Asset Management, known as the Vampire Kangaroo, an international hedge fund who buy up infrastructure businesses, load them with debt, pay out dividends and then disappear. Their aim is to make profit, and lots of it. These are the same people who bought Thames Water, loaded it up with debt, took millions for themselves and then left everyday people to foot the bill. 

This isn't about saving the environment for them, we are one of hundreds of money making projects. They certainly do not have our local communities best interests at heart. 

It is crucial to advocate for sustainable solutions that consider both environmental impacts and community welfare. We owe it to our future generations to prioritise transparent, community-involved planning processes and to seek approaches that everyone can support. Not simply having an international hedge fund come in and 'do this' to the local area with no meaningful consultation. This project has an initial lifespan of 60 years, so it isn't just us or our children that this will impact, it is their children too. 

Help protect our local villages and the surrounding areas. Stand with us in urging our Parish Councils, planning organisations, and ultimately the Secretary of State, to halt the current Light Valley Solar proposal and consider more community-conscious alternatives.

Please sign this petition to make our voices heard and safeguard the heritage and landscape that we deeply value.

For updates on our progress, you can join our Facebook group here: www.facebook.com/groups/againstlightvalleysolar

For full project details and documents, you can view these, contact Light Valley Solar here: www.lightvalleysolar.co.uk/project-overview